Submarine signal device.



F. R. SGHBLL. SUBMAEINE SIGNAL DEVICE. APPvLIoATI-:on FILED un.' 1a, 190s.-

955,359. Y Patented Apr. 19, 1910.

:MIM

WIW/953858.'

the'device or tov the space it mayl occupy.v

.tact with. the Water.

FRANK It. scHnLL, or NW YORK, vN. Y.v

SUBMARINE SIGNAL DEVICE.

specification of Letters Patent.' Patented Apr'. 19, 1910.

Application filed March'18,.1909. Serial No. 484,316.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK R. SCHELL, re siding at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in.

Submarine Signal Devices, of which the following'is a specification.i

This invention relates to means for producing sound vibrations in \vater, and more jparticularly to submarine bells for use on shl fboard, to means for operating the sume,

an to 'a novel and effective manner of mounting and safeguardmg the same upon the-outer Wall of the ship'below the Water line. It has' been demonstrated that in order to secure the best results with this form of signaling device, and indeed to 'secure any practica results at, all over great distances, 'a submerged sounding device should have its vibrating body or diaphragm in direct coni This is in order that the sound Wavesmay ybe originallyproduced instance-#into the transmitting medium, Water. Where a signaling device of thisysort -is to be stationary, the inventor or 'mechanic is not, as a. rule, restricted as to the size of Heiney also provide special means for pro- Ain the medium by which they7 are to be transmitted, sothat no losses of energy by reflection, &e., may be incurred hy the pzlssage ol" the sound Waves from one medium air for tecting his apparatus from destruction or' -injury byfloating or submerged objects. It

Is, however, specially desirable-that ships be equipped Withv submarinebellsl; and devices,

which may b e ent-irelyoperatiye, and prac tical for stationaryvpurpses become useless 4Whenthe attempt is made to 'attach them to orsuspelndl them'from a moving fvessel. "'lr the .first place,.their connectionsv with the vand confusion in their delivery of vessel. are. likel 'to become torn" away or seriously lnjure by contact withfpassing obects, or, if not thusmechanically affected y such contact, at least sutler interruption Again, the presence` ofl the sounding device cordfr the'lile, special means must f` vk f p'pQ On-theotherghand, if the sounding devicev at a. proper point on. the outside of the vessel may prove a source of inconvenience and annoyanceto the halldling of the shi); and

where thedevice is merelysuspende vby a be. pfoeepmg .it"'submerged and in positonxvvhen the vessel is in motion.

on shipvboard,.even though below the Water into the Water Without.

line, much of its energy and effectiveness :is ordinarily lost in the passage, of 'the sound waves from the medium ot their inception To meet these difficulties variousexpedients have been devised, as lfor instance providing for the bell a tig-ht chamber, one Wall of which is the outer Wall water, the vibrations in this case beginning in the water of thetanl, passing throughthe wall of the shlp, and thence into theoutside of the ship, and filling said chamber with v water. This solution of the d iflieulty-isfar 'from perfect, necessitating as it doesaconsiderable and expensive change in the ship constructiompand being opento the objection that the vibrations must pass through a-medium (the Wall of the .shlp)` which is different from the'lnedium of ineeptionnand conduction.l y l rfhe principal object `of this invention,

therefore, 1s the special mounting and prof,

tection of' ay .submarine soundingdeviee on ship-bmrd, whereby the sound waves Amay.l

reason ot the dex-ice being iu contact-.there-- originate in the water outsidethe ship, by

with, and yet the device be entirely free-oi' all the inconveniences of alocation4 in the unter without the Vessel.

A. further object is the provision of a novel forni ot' bell `for use in this particular art,

and especially desirable In connection Q -the protecting device employed,

Still another object,and Working togetl'ler for goed with the other elements characterizing Iuy invention, -is a-novel bell ringing device.

The elements, con1binations,-and arrange'- inents of parts constituting the presentfinventiou .will heheleinafter fully set forl ;h,i and. the scope 'of the application thereof de- 'y 1 fined 1in the annexed claims.

ln 'the accompanying drawing, which isi-td be (alten as a part ol Vthis speci-lication, andin which l lia\' slio\vn a :merel y preferredv formf'olA embodiment 'of the invention,fthe4 ligure is a. pian view partly in vdiagram and.

partly broken away, showing `1ny device as applied to 4the side of a ship, the normal direction 'of movement whereof is' indicated bythe arrow.

gl'teferr'i-ng to the' numerals 101i 'the' dravv" ings 1- indicates the side wall of a ship-or :the like'floatingvesseljor'object, and 2 indi- Acalles .a .shield member, which tapers gradl uallyin the direction 4of normal t'ra'ivelof l the Ship, and which isasavide as 'the`diitmiro..

eter or extent of a bell 3. Although I have shown the shield in the form of a solid tapering member, itshould be understood that its only necessary limita-tions are that it must dellect or tend to deflect obstacles away from the bell which is behind it, and that the distance of itsouter surface from the wall of the ship gradually increases aft. vIn order that the end of shield 2 need not be so thick as to cause the same to olfer any appreciable resistance to the onward movement of the vessel, l provide that the bell located aft ol it shall be relatively flat, a sort oi dia' phragm, as it were, lying closely along .the wall of the ship, and protected by the shield 2, which detlects from the side of the vessel any object which may be contacted during the forward movement of the ship.

As a form of bell striking device which is particularly adapted for use with the diaphragm bell described, l provide plungers et, which may have telescoping sections, with interposed compression springs, as shown for the sake of quick rebound, extending through appropriately packed apertures in the side wall of the ship, and reciproeated in any preferred way. For example, the inner ends of the plungers (there being two shown) are connected to a common actuating bar 5, which is centrally pivotcd as at 6. Bar 5 is oscillated upon its pivot by means of ec centric rods 7, connected to eccentrics'S op positely mounted on shait 9 in usual manner, the latter being driven by belt` and pulley connection with motor 1l. The action of the plungers, of which be it understood, one will suilice will be apparent, and it will also be plain that the striking device described has particular merit in connection Willi the diaphragm bell, being entirely covered by the inwardly turned edge of the latter.

lt is desirable at times, in the use of the bell, and for various reasons, to adjustthe position of the same to and from the side of the ship. rlo this end the bell is mounted se that its central supporting stud may be moved inwardly and outwardly through the wall oi the ship, said stud being screw threaded and rotatable, as by means of hand wheel 12, in a threadedaperture in the side oil the vessel, sleeve 14 al'l'ording a broad bearing for the stud, as shown.

'lhe operation ci' the device will be parent, and its advantages have been already sulliciently adverted to. Nor is it deemed necessary to explain how the signals o1 the bell may be codiiied and rendered intelli` gible, all of this being well understood.

As ina-ny changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely dill'erent embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above' description or Va bell attached to the shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not 1n a limiting sense. It is also to be understood that the language used in the following,

claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention, which as a matter of language, might be said to fall-therebetween.

What l. claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. ln an apparatus of the kind described, a shield, the distance of Whose outer surface from the wall of the ship decreases in the direction oit normal travel of the ship, and a, diaphragm bell secured tlatwise of the outer wall of the ship aft oie said shield.4

In an apparatus of the kind described, a shield, the distance ot' whose outer surface from the wall of the ship decreases in the direction of normal travel of the ship, a diaphragm bell secured ilatwise of the outer wall of the .ship aft of said shield, and means for striking the bell upon the inside thereof'.

3. In an apparatus of the kind described, a shield, the distance of Whose outer surface from the wall of the ship decreases in the direction of normal 'travel of the ship, a diaphragm bell, and means for striking the bell working through the wall of the ship.

4. In an apparatus of the kind described, a diaphragm bell arranged iatwise of the wall of the ship, and having a supporting stud movable through the wall of the ship.

5. In an apparatus of theJkind described,

outside wall of a shi and a plunger movable strike the bell.

6. In an apparatus of the kind` described, a diaphragm bell disposed latwise outsideV the wall ot' a ship, and a means operated from the inner side O the wall for striking the bell.

7. In an apparatus of the kind described, a diaphragm bell disposed flat-wise outside the Wall or' a ship, and a means opera-ted from the inner side of the wall for striking the bell, said means including an eccentric.

8. In an apparatus ofV the kind described, a diaphragm bell moi/ably secured Hatwise ad jacent the wall of the ship, and means for moving the bellagainst the said wall. A

9. ln an apparatus of the kind described, a diaphragm bell movably secured flatwisc ad jacent the Wall of the ship, and means for moving said bell inwardly and outwardly. with respect to said wall.

10. In an apparatus of the kind described, a. diaphragm bell movably secured flat-Wise adjacent the wall of the ship, and an endwise movable supporting member arranged .in the support of said bell.

11. In an apparatus of the kind described, a diaphragm bell movably secured atwise through the wall to 'adjacent the Wall of the ship, an endwise movable supporting member arranged in the support of said bell, and means for moving said member operated from the interior of the ship. Y

12. In an apparatus ofl the kind described, a diaphragm bell movably secured flat-,Wise with respect to the outer Wall of a ship, and means for holding said bellin spaced rela.- tion with respect to saifd Wall adapted to move said bell against said Wall and hold it there.

13. In an apparatus o-the kind described, a diaphragm bell movably secured flatwise with respect tothe outer Wall of a. ship7 a sup# porting member threaded through the wall of said ship and interposed in the support et.

said bell,`and means for revolving said inember whereby said bell may be held spaced from sald wall or moved. into engagement with it and held there.

14. In a device of the kind described, a diaphragm bell'arranged tlatwise with respect to 4the outer Wall of the ship, a supporting member threaded through said Wall and secured to said bell, means for rotating said member, a plunger extending through said Wall and adapted to strike the inside of said bell, and means for operating saidl plun# er. g.15. In a device of the kind described, a diaphragm bell arranged fiatwise with respect to the outer Wall of the ship, a supporting member threaded through said Wall and secured to said bell, means for rotating said member, a pair of plungers extending through said wall and adapted to-strike the inside of saidbell, and means for operatingr said .plungers in alternation. n

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

FRANIQ R. SCHELL.

lVitnesses:

(L` B. BRADLEY,

Farm-imei; I. ALLEN.. 

